NVIDIA’s cloud-gaming service launched just a week ago, but it’s already encountering significant hiccups. Activision Blizzard, for one, has withdrawn from the GeForce NOW program entirely. That means no Call of Duty, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and other ultra-popular titles.
The news was revealed by an NVIDIA staff member posting on the official GeForce NOW forum. No reason was given as to why Activision Blizzard bailed out, but NVIDIA says it is working with the publisher to “reenable these games and more in the future.”
Keep in mind that GeForce NOW has paying subscribers, so this loss is doubly embarrassing for NVIDIA, which promised a certain catalog of games before launch. Those who paid for the Founders tier are already fuming, as they weren’t aware of how fickle the selection could evidently be.
What’s worse is that Activision Blizzard wasn’t the only company that got cold feet, either. Games from Capcom, EA, Konami, Remedy, Rockstar, and Square Enix have seemingly gone missing, too.
The entire situation is unusual, since Activision Blizzard’s titles were available during GeForce NOW’s long and drawn-out beta run. What changed is a mystery, but it could have something to do with the fact that the cloud-gaming alternative is now a paid service.
NVIDIA points out that “hundreds” of games are still available to stream. There’s also “1,500 games that developers have asked to be on-boarded to the service.”